Lim Guan Eng wants Najib to apologise for his mistakes after recent developments in the 1MDB scandal. File Photo
PUTRAJAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should apologise for his mistakes, especially following the recent development on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
In a statement today, he said in the view of recent development where Goldman Sachs apologised to Malaysians and stated that Goldman Sachs had also been cheated by Barisan Nasional (BN) top leaders.
“Although Goldman Sachs has apologised, Datuk Seri Najib is still stubborn and insists that he is innocent and still refuses to apologise. Instead, he puts the blame on the system although he represents the system when he was the Prime Minister at that time,” he said.
On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive officer David Solomon apologised to the Malaysian people for the role played by two of its former officers in the 1MDB scandal.
Goldman assisted in arranging a US$6.5 billion bond for 1MDB. Malaysia has filed criminal charges against the bank and the two former employees in connection with the scandal.
Lim added that another mistake made by Najib was to assume that Universiti Islam Malaysia (UIM) which is a non-profit wakaf-based private college, was a similar institution as the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), which is a public institution of higher learning.
Lim explained that UIM was established in Cyberjaya in 2012 after Kolej Islam Malaya, an Islamic learning institution with a long history of producing many top figures, was upgraded with the approval of the Conference of Rulers.
“It’s impossible for a former prime minister to not know about the existence of such a historic institution, or (does he) pretend not to know for the purpose of politics?”
“It is proper that Najib should apologise for his mistakes but I believe Najib would not do that because he feels that he can do no wrong,” Lim added.
Lim was commenting on Najib’s post on his Facebook site, where attempted to ridicule the Minister of Finance by comparing the RM15 million grant to UIM with the RM6 million grant to three universities, namely the Kolej Universiti New Era in Selangor, Kolej Universiti Selatan in Johor and Kolej Universiti Han Chiang in Penang. – Bernama